Teach With April

  Don't Blame The Student: A Reflection of Shalaby's "Troublemakers" By April Federico       In Troublemakers , Victoria Shalaby uses a research method called "portraiture" to offer a compassionate, human-centered look at four children: Zora, Lucas, Sean, and Marcus, who have been labeled as "problem kids" by their schools. Rather than focusing only on classroom behavior, Shalaby observes them in their homes and communities as well, highlighting their strengths and positive qualities outside of school. Zora and Lucas attend a mostly white, affluent suburban school, showing that so-called “troublemaking” isn’t just an urban issue but can emerge anywhere rigid school systems clash with students’ needs.       Sean and Marcus attend a racially and economically diverse urban school, where their experiences demonstrate how disciplinary systems shaped by the "supremacy of whiteness" can disproportionately punish students of color. Shalaby presen...

 A Reflection of Meghan Forbes's "Classroom Tour" and Alfie Kohn's "What To Look For In A Classroom" By April Federico      Before you read this: I apologize for mixing up the reading assignments, but I hope you at least got a taste of Finn from my last blog post! From my perspective as a former special education teacher, watching Megan Forbes’s middle school classroom tour through the lens of Alfie Kohn really highlights a tension between aesthetics and accessibility. I was initially told while decorating my classroom that “less is more.” And in special education, “less is more” isn’t just a preference, it’s necessary. Classrooms filled with bright colors, layered posters, and hanging decorations can easily overwhelm students or pull their attention away from learning.       Pro tip when you go into your first year of teaching: focus on classroom policies and management before decor.       While Megan’s classroom feels welcom...

 Argument of "Literacy With An Attitude" by Patrick J. Finn  By April Federico In the preface to Literacy with an Attitude , Patrick J. Finn completely reframes the narrative that the American education system is “failing.” Instead, he argues that it is actually doing exactly what it was designed to do: providing different types of literacy depending on a student’s social class. One idea that really stood out to me is the distinction between “functional” and “powerful” literacy. Finn explains that working-class schools tend to focus on compliance and producing dependable workers, while more elite spaces foster confidence, authority, and critical thinking. As Finn puts it, “First, there is empowering education, which leads to powerful literacy [...] Second, there is domesticating education, which leads to functional literacy” (Finn, ix) To me, this highlights how functional literacy keeps systems running, but powerful literacy is what actually allows people to question, naviga...

 Argument of "The Silent Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children" by Lisa Delpit  By April Federico      Progressive teaching often avoids "direct instruction" because it feels too controlling. The solution that Delpit proposes is to not teach the "codes of power" is to act out of "power-blindness" that only hurts the very children teachers claim they want to help. In fact, there is a quote on page forty that highlights this solution: "I tell them that their language and cultural style is unique and wonderful and that there is a political power game that is also being played and if they want to be on that game there are certain games they too must play" (Delpit 40).  As a former special education teacher, I once believed that direct instruction was inherently too controlling. I associated highly structured lessons, explicit modeling, and step-by-step skill practice with compliance rather than empowerment. I...